Rand Paul 'offended' by IRS activities

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa. - Sen. Rand Paul, a hero of the tea party movement, said Friday he is “offended” by the admission the IRS singled out conservative groups for extra scrutiny on their tax forms.

“I’m offended when any kind of government entity targets people for their political or religious beliefs. It’s particularly offensive, particularly since I’m one of the groups they were targeting,” Paul said.

Story Continued Below

“They didn’t audit me personally,” he added. “But government should never be used to bully people.”

The Kentucky Republican said he wasn’t familiar enough with the case to say exactly what kind of investigation should unfold, “whether or not it ends where it ends, or whether there’s something that still needs to be looked into.”

The IRS apologized Friday for singling out roughly using words like “tea party” or “patriot” in tax documents

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called on President Barack Obama to order a “transparent, government-wide review” to see if similar practices are happening elsewhere in the administration. And several House Republicans have pledged to investigate the issue.